Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) Quarterly E-News No Images? Click here Welcome to the LEaRN Spring Quarterly LEaRN has enjoyed a successful decade of research on learning space design and occupation. We have won five major Australian Research Council Linkage Grants and multiple research consultancies from industry. In this newsletter we bring you updates on current research, collaborations and events within Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Melbourne School of Design at The University of Melbourne. We are proud that each research project has been enriched by industry partners. LEaRN is looking for a Research Communications CoordinatorDo you know someone who might be the right fit for this role? We are looking for a Research Communications Coordinator, a casual role for up to 12 months. This professional staff role is 2-3 days per week (negotiable) and is suited to an organised, self-directed, creative individual with skills in communications, website development, and event management. Talking Spaces 2020 Your voice We have some exciting plans for Talking Spaces 2020. Look out for our upcoming short survey where we invite you to highlight the key issues for LEaRN to research in the coming years. In 2020 we are focusing on emerging crucial topics for change. As always, Talking Spaces will be a conversation between industry and academia and between education, design and health experts. We recognise the expertise brought by each attendee as they join with leading practitioners and academics to debate how space can best include the voices and needs of diverse learners. Building Connections: Schools as Community Hubs Bridgewood Primary School by Clarke Hopkins Clarke is a primary school that integrates an early learning facility and a Maternal and Child Health Centre. Image: Rhiannon Slater.Building Connections is investigating how best to plan, design, govern and manage schools to operate successfully as ‘more than a school’, to support the education, health and wellbeing of individuals, families and community groups. In the next decade, Australia will need up to 700 new schools to meet the demands of a growing population. This presents a significant opportunity to understand the role school sites can play in supporting communities across the country. The project aims to provide policy guidance to help government and non-government school systems, local councils, schools and community organisations overcome obstacles that commonly limit use of school facilities for community benefit.Learning Spaces for Special Educational Needs (LS & SEN) Gold Street Children's Centre by k20 Architecture The Learning Spaces for Special Educational Needs project has progressed through 2019 with Dr Scott Alterator joining LEaRN to manage the project through a pilot study. The project received Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning funding to engage with industry across Australia and New Zealand. The development of an evaluation tool for special educational needs will commence through interviews with experts and stakeholders in coming months. The evaluation tool will be beta tested in several school sites through an iterative process. Watch our LEaRN projects page for updates and project information. Innovative Learning Environments & Teacher Change (ILETC)The ILETC project is now entering its final year, with activity focused on knowledge sharing and resources to support teachers in the use of innovative learning spaces. Transitions 19 We have been working with our partners to create a unique 3-day event: a showcase of our research together with the opportunity to prototype and play through interactive workshops and installations. 2-4th October, 2019. The University of Melbourne, Australia Research update In recent months, our ILETC team has been developing the Teacher Transition Pathway.The Teacher Transition Pathway has involved:
Our next phase is validation and evaluation. Developing a toolkit Has your team made a successful transition from traditional to innovative learning environments? We would like to hear from teachers and principals about the strategies and tools that have helped their staff and students to make the change. These strategies and tools will contribute to our development of the Teacher Transition Pathway toolkit, creating shared resources that are both enabling and empowering for learning communities. Symposium Proceedings from all 3 Transitions 18 events are now available, together with analysis of participant data that has informed the development of the Teacher Transition Pathway. The Transitions symposia of 2017, 2018 and 2019 have played an important role in informing the ILETC research as well as generating connections with researchers, teachers and architects across the world. By publishing these papers free and online we hope this research reaches a wider audience and can help inform the journey schools and architects make in developing new learning spaces. Plans to Pedagogy (P2P)Plans to Pedagogy is into its second year and all participating schools are in the midst of data collection and analysis. Image: LEaRN.The first Plans to Pedagogy workshop was held in February 2019, a great opportunity for learning and sharing the work so far. Interesting insights are emerging, and at our upcoming November workshop, we look forward to sharing findings and implications from each of the 11 P2P projects.Academic Workspace Evaluation (AWE) Image: Se Yan (Steve), LEaRN With seed funding from the Melbourne School of Design, members of LEaRN are developing an evaluation approach for academic work settings. As universities increase their focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration and research, institutions are increasingly looking towards industry to inform new academic workplace typologies. There is change ahead, with implications for staff and students. As part of the research we have:
Currently, we are:
We will be running a research workshop at the Tertiary Education Management Conference in October. PhD Candidate Insights Qusai Anteet Qusai is a LEaRN-affiliated PhD candidate and holds a Master of Architecture. His research discusses the complex relationships between educational aspirations, school architecture and architectural programming/briefing, towards fostering evidence-based school design. Qusai has architectural teaching and professional experience, including co-designing multi-scale projects in Saudi Arabia. Qusai has been granted a PhD scholarship from Saudi Arabia. He is a member of Learning Environments Australasia. The 4th Saudi Scientific Symposium In August 2019, Qusai presented his PhD research at the 4th Saudi Scientific Symposium in Sydney. The event was co-organised by the Saudi Students Club, Sydney and the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, Canberra and focused on the theme ‘Aligning Research with Job Market Expectations’. The event provided opportunity for constructive transdisciplinary discussions, with more than sixty Saudi research students from Australian universities shared their ideas in different fields, including Medical and Medicine Science, Engineering and Computer Science, Applied Science, Humanities and Management. It allowed Qusai to speak about his project for jurors and non-expert audience in his study area. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Australia Musaed Al-Saleem and the Saudi Cultural Attaché Dr Hesham Khadawardi attended. Welcoming our new team members Dr Sianan Healy Dr Sianan Healy is Project Coordinator for Building Connections: Schools as Community Hubs. She provides research support, leads the dissemination of research findings and coordinates communication with partners and stakeholders. Sianan recently completed a research fellowship on histories of Aboriginal housing projects in postwar Victoria; prior to that she was research fellow and project manager on the ARC Discovery Project Designing Australian Schools: A Spatial History of Innovation, Pedagogy and Social Change (University of Melbourne). Philippa Chandler Philippa (Pippa) Chandler is Research Fellow with Building Connections: Schools as Community Hubs. Philippa is a member of the Institute of Australian Geographers and is particularly interested in how people ‘perform’ community in everyday Australian life. Her recent PhD explored place-attachment, community and environmental conflict among return visitors to the Ningaloo Reef region of Western Australia. In her spare time, Philippa dabbles with journalism and occasionally contributes articles about arts and culture to Guardian Australia. Se Yan (Steve) Se Yan (Steve) is Research Assistant with Academic Workspace Evaluation, contributing his illustrative and spatial analysis skills. He is a recent graduate of the Master of Architecture program at the Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne. His thesis explored the intersections between emerging pedagogies, learning environments, and the lived experiences of academics and architecture students. In his spare time, Steve pursues his passion for reading and collecting El Croquis and other design-related literature. Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) CRICOS Provider Code: 00116k |